Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the recruitment of more modern slavery case workers announced in October 2024 will improve National Referral Mechanism waiting times for conclusive grounds decisions for women, which, according to recent data from the International Organization for Migration, are 16 months longer than for men.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government inherited a system in which decision-making times were too long and that is why we made it a priority to reduce these via the recruitment of additional 200 decision makers. This will support all victims, and the backlog of cases has already reduced significantly,
NRM statistics are published and can be found here Modern slavery: NRM and DtN statistics, October to December 2024 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether their forthcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy will consider victims of sexual exploitation in the light of recent data from the International Organization for Migration showing that fewer women and girls are being supported through the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement operational intensifications aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators. We are currently considering policy options on how we can best support those impacted by sexual exploitation, including in the context of our violence against women and girls strategy.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Car Wash Code of Practice Project Report: Home Office Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, published by Nottingham Trent University and submitted to the Home Office in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.
The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.
In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the report Car Wash Code of Practice Project Report: Home Office Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, published by Nottingham Trent University and submitted to the Home Office in October 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office funded the evaluation report conducted by the Responsible Car Wash Scheme and Nottingham Trent University, as part of its grant funding under the Modern Slavery Prevention Fund, a one-off pot of funding to build the evidence base on what interventions work to prevent modern slavery.
The Home Office has shared the evaluation of this project with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority so the lessons from this project can be incorporated into operational activity to improve standards within the hand car wash sector. The Government has no plans to respond directly to the report.
In addition, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) sets out the scale and nature of labour exploitation in their annual strategy to ensure the three labour market enforcement bodies are targeting the highest-risk industries. The most recent 23-24 DLME strategy highlights hand car washes as a sector at risk of labour exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery after arriving in the UK irregularly since January 2022 were referred because of (1) exploitation which happened in the UK, and (2) trafficking to the UK.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office publishes statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK, including those arriving via small boats, in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals from small boat arrivals and the outcomes of these referrals is published in tables Irr_D04 and Irr_D05 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
The Home Office does not publish data on modern slavery referrals for other irregular arrivals, or data on the nature or location of the exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery after arriving in the UK irregularly since January 2022 have been given (1) a positive reasonable grounds decision, (2) a negative reasonable grounds decision, (3) a positive conclusive grounds decision, and (4) a negative conclusive grounds decision.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office publishes statistics on irregular arrivals to the UK, including those arriving via small boats, in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals from small boat arrivals and the outcomes of these referrals is published in tables Irr_D04 and Irr_D05 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’, with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
The Home Office does not publish data on modern slavery referrals for other irregular arrivals, or data on the nature or location of the exploitation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who have arrived into the UK illegally since 1 January 2022 and who would therefore be eligible for removal to Rwanda have been referred to the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Home Office publishes statistics on detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular migration to the UK statistics’ release on gov.uk. Data on NRM referrals from small boat arrivals and the outcomes of the NRM referrals is published in tables Irr_D04 and Irr_D05 respectively of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed datasets’ with the latest data up to the end of May 2023.
Information on NRM referrals from people who have arrived through other irregular routes is not published.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have figures on the number of places of worship open in the UK.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Registrar General for England and Wales has a statutory duty to maintain a list of all places of worship in England and Wales which is available for the public to view on Places of worship registered for marriage - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will appoint the next Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC), as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act, is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The process to recruit a new IASC follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.
A decision on the appointment is under consideration.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many bids were received from organisations to provide information sessions on employment rights for overseas domestic workers; whether any of the bids have been successful; and when they expect the sessions to begin.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Following extensive market engagement, a full commercial tender exercise was conducted, which attracted only two bids to provide the information and advice sessions for Overseas Domestic Workers. Neither bid was successful.
All domestic workers are though provided with an information leaflet explaining their rights and how to access help should they need it. Further help and information is also available online at:
http://www.gov.uk/domestic-workers-in-a-private-household-visa/your-employment-rights